RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 5 sourcesx whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info By AFP Published On 20 Aug 2026 20 Aug 2026 Harry Brook has punished Pakistan for dropping him at the start of his innings with a quickfire 91 that strengthened England’s grip on the first cricket Test at Headingley.
England were 366-8 at stumps on a rain-marred second day on Thursday, 195 runs ahead of Pakistan’s meagre first innings of 171.
The only sadness for the crowd was that neither of their local Yorkshire heroes were able to post a century, with skipper Joe Root out for 66 before Brook fell late in the day.
Dan Lawrence, recalled after the international retirement of former captain Ben Stokes, made 51 and put on 120 with Brook in England’s first Test of the post-Bazball era.
Jordan Cox (73) and Root had earlier shared a third-wicket stand of exactly 150 before falling in quick succession to give Pakistan a glimmer of hope in the first of this three-Test series.
Brook, however, should then have been out for one when he edged Khurram Shahzad, only for diving Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, leading the side in place of the injured Babar Azam, to drop the chance at second slip.
Brook cashed in and was in sight of what would have been his first Test century at Headingley – and 11th in 39 matches overall – when he tried to turn left-arm spinner Ali Usman legside only for the ball to hit his leg before rattling the stumps.
The 27-year-old faced just 93 balls, hitting 13 fours.
It was the second time Brook, the number one batsman in the red-ball rankings, had been out in the 90s of a Test at Headingley following his 99 against India last year.
Usman was the pick of an otherwise largely ineffective all-pace attack with 5-92 in 23 overs, his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket coming in just his third match.
After dismissing three specialist batsmen, Usman removed tailenders Gus Atkinson and Ollie Robinson with successive deliveries before Jofra Archer survived the hat-trick ball.
England, following a washed-out morning session, resumed on 112-2 after pacemen Robinson (5-51) and Josh Tongue (5-46) had shared all 10 Pakistan wickets between them on Wednesday.
Root, at the start of his second stint as full-time England captain, was 37 not out with number three Cox – replacing the injured Jacob Bethell – unbeaten on 23.
Cox was severe on anything loose and the 25-year-old marked his second Test with a maiden fifty when he turned Mohammad Abbas past leg slip for his 10th boundary in 78 balls faced.
That was the end of the over, and just as Robinson and Tongue had reached their five-wicket hauls Wednesday off successive deliveries, the next ball saw Root follow Cox to fifty by whipping Mohammad Ali through the legside for four.
Cox was fortunate on 57 when Shahzad dropped a return catch off a miscued pull.
Usman succeeded where the seamers had failed, however, when a fending Cox edged a sharply turning delivery to wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan.
England’s 198-3 became 202-4 when Root was leg before wicket (LBW) four balls later to give the persevering Shahzad his lone wicket of an expensive 19 overs costing 111 runs.
The failure of Cox and Root to go on to a really big score arguably represented two more examples of the lack of ruthlessness that has plagued England during a run of seven defeats in their last nine Tests.
But it made little difference Thursday, with Pakistan’s plight summed up when Agha tried to run out the advancing Lawrence, after the ball rebounded off the batsman’s pads, only for his throw from slip to hit the back of Rizwan’s legs.
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